HARDY triathletes are hoping to swim, cycle and run their way to glory.

Clacton’s 16th annual triathlon is taking place this weekend.

The showpiece event – a highlight in Tendring’s sporting calendar – will feature events for juniors through to an Olympic-distance race being tackled by nearly 200 competitors.

It will again raise vital funds for the Brain and Spine Foundation, having already raised £68,000 since the first triathlon in 1999.

“We’re very much looking forward to it,” said event co-organiser John Kedge.

“The event has grown and grown and attracts triathletes from across the UK.

“We’ve even got someone coming over this year from America.

“Organising this year’s event has been a bit of challenge, due to the engineering work of the new sea defence structures.

“We’ve had to adjust the racing, in terms of where the swimmers enter and exit the water, but everyone has been very helpful and co-operative.”

Just 28 competitors took part in the first triathlon, in 1999.

More than 300 took part in the Olympic-distance event in 2005 and this year’s entry figure is 198.

For a full preview, see this week's Gazette.